Today, my daughter was playing outside. I was watching her from the window, and I saw her pick up a dead bird. I ran outside to grab her. As I picked her up and started scolding her, she tried to scratch my face. In the attempt, her hand went straight into my mouth. FML

Um, first, I believe you meant "eat". Second, I myself eat dead animals every day. I do not, however, pick dead animals off the ground and pop them into my mouth. There is a middle ground, hard as that may be for you to believe.

No, not everything, but some children do need physical punishment to be taught a lesson. Not all children will sulk in a corner after you say "Now Mummy doesn't like it when you try to eat dead Birds and try and scratch her face off"

And I don't mean belting the child until you break your hand or something, one firm, swift smack on the bum will do it. My sister and I where smacked when we were kids and we grew up fine. My cousins, who weren't, have grown into lazy, disrespecting brats.

@ #14 - huge difference between beating/hitting your kid and spanking them. One is done in anger, the other is done in correction. One is a controlled motion, specifically intended to sting but not cause any real harm. The other is a reaction, and can very easily be uncontrolled. A swat or two on the behind isn't going to ruin a child. A smack across the face, or unrelenting spanking (continuous, or in excess of more than a couple) isn't good. Which would you rather do, have a daughter that thinks it's ok to claw at your face or one that doesn't. Remember, not everyone reacts the same way to a method of correction. One kid you can talk to and explain how it is wrong and they get it... another kid will think that they aren't even being corrected (grounding, yelling had NO effect on me... a swat or two on the butt would work wonders on my attitude) and will continue on doing what they were doing.

I think comments must have been moved around, so Funk's looks out of place...

I agree that something is seriously wrong if your child thinks that a proper response to being scolded is to scratch your face. In this case, spanking might not be the best option - you don't want to create an even more violent child. But you do need to figure out some way to control her.

This exactly. You should NEVER beat a child. Don't hit hard, or out of anger. A stern swat to the behind does not hurt them. It shocks them and tells them what they did was bad. I can tell you out of experience that time-outs and telling a child not to do something does not always work.
It's pathetic how many brats I see who blatantly disobey adults and misbehave. It's not always the parents fault, it's society's. If someone even touches a kid there's someone calling the cops. They don't look at the whole situation and see if that kid was even really hurt.

It's just like those parents who got their kids taken away from them and were thought to be pedophiles because they got a picture of their one year old in the bath tub developed at walmart. Apparently that's considered child pornography. We're arresting so many normal people that the real disgusting perverts and rapists slide under the radar.

-.- There is a difference between spanking your child for discipline and 'hitting your child.'

Trust me spanking doesn't ruin a child... I was spanked plenty growing up. Ask any elderly person... they were probably spanked too. Most remembered phrase from my old family camping trips: "Go fetch a switch." Note that's a trap as it makes you think you have some control over whats about to happen. Get the biggest it hurts alot, get a small flimsy one... it can cut you... like a whip... V.V Switches are evil.